Riverside leisure pursuits...... bring back the raft race

I was having a chat the other evening down at the reform with the bloke behind the Barnstaple Pilot Gig rowing club. I'd seen the bloke about, at the Pilton Festival and he's been in the Journal a few times trying to get more people involved in what to my mind is a valiant effort to get folk out and about on the River, so I thought I'd make myself known to him. We had a good old natter I told him that his endeavours seem to have captured the imagination of local people and I knew of a few people who had expressed an interest to me in getting involved. I told him how I thought it was a deep shame that a town like Barum with such an illustrious maritime history does not make more use in the river or more of our now redundant quaysides and that they could be used for much better purposes than car parking. In these instances I always cite Bideford who always seem to look out on to their river while we in Barum tend to turn away from it. Anyway, he told me that the Barnstaple Gig club had secured the use of the old boat building on Rolle (s) Quay which has laid in a state of rack and ruin for many years now. I was mightily impressed by this revelation as for years now I have been petitioning all and sundry about getting on and doing something about the place.
 As the natch flowed I found meself signing up for the club, even though at the time I had a bugger of a bad back, and the chap seemed impressed by my previous rowing experience especially after  I reminded him that I used to be a bit of a celebrity along the banks of the Taw as I was part of the Kirkham's Tyres Team which won the raft race two years in a row back in 1976 and '77. We both agreed that the Raft race was a proper community activity and is much missed and he seemed very keen to know more about my plans for reviving this ancient local tradition. I also told him how I keep my oar in like by doing a bit of dragnetting for salmon down at Ashford Strand during the season. He took my contact details but funny enough I haven't heard anything from him yet. I can't think why.
Yesterday, I was cycling along the river on the Tarka Trail and I was pondering about this when I happened upon another club which is making a greater use of our coastal location, namely the Taw and Tarka Trail Angling and Drinking Club. I've been hailed by these fellows a few times now as I've cycled passed so yesterday I stopped off and had a word to see what they are up to. Basically, they meet everyday by the Pottington turn off on the coast path or if the weather is inclement they shelter under the span of the downstream bridge, they cast out a few lines if the tide is right then they crack into large blue bottles of cider and then sit and heartily greet other users of the path. They also like to impart their local knowledge by providing an informal tourist information service and will come to the rescue of any cyclist in distress offering free bike maintenance advice and tips. The angling seemed a rather secondary activity as all the time I was there the lines went largely slack and ignored. I now report that having cycled up to the CO-OP and bought a coupe of two litre bottles of Blackthorn, proper juice not the muck they were drinking, I was received enthusiastically into the club.
To my mind this sort of organisation is just what David Cameron is going on about and after yesterday afternoon I am a little more optimistic that his ideas of a Big Society may actually work.

http://www.barnstaplepilotgigclub.co.uk/